The Journey to Syntrika
by GodAwfulLag
Summary: Link heads out on a new Journey to a neighboring land of Hyrule; Syntrika. Part of a short story fan fiction series I am still working on. The chapters are short, but I wanted to post this. I appreciate constructive criticism, but not negativity. It's set in the world of Twilight Princess, but with elements of Ocarina of Time and Skyward Sword mixed in there.
1. Chapter 1

Prologue: A Shadow of Death

Floods of rain, claps of thunder and arcs of lightning. All were present as the rust-colored mare galloped away from the corpse-strewn battlefield carrying a young man on her back. The young man was badly injured, and would die without immediate medical care. So the horse went, from memory, to the one place she knew to be a safe haven...


	2. Chapter 2

_Chapter One: Preparation_

-Some months earlier-

As he saddled his trusty horse, Epona, Link contemplated the journey that lie ahead. It would be full of foreseen and unforeseen dangers alike, yet in the end he knew it would be worth it. This would be the first time he would be travelling out of Hyrule since the Termina incident. _I'll be back. _He thought. There was one place he would not miss, however; the Water Temple. That place was full of complex patterns of puzzles that made his head hurt. When he had had to go through it again because a few local Zoras had been trapped in there by a band of Stalfos, it had been worse. He had almost died there once as well, while he was on the rescue mission. A Stalfos had pinned him to the ground while another had tried to cut his neck. The awful stench of them had almost killed him on its own.

When he finished packing Epona's saddlebags, he went back in his tent to see to his own needs. He got his sword, shield, silver-chased bow, Gale boomerang, clawshots, bottles, hammer, and Ocarina. He considered that he would be gladder when he needed these items than miserable carrying all of them. The sword and shield he would strap on his back, as he always had done, the bow as well. The arrows for the bow went in his quiver. The clawshots went in the special holster he had made for them, on his tunic. The bottles went in special pouches on Epona's saddlebags. His hammer he stored in Epona's saddlebags as well. He then slipped the three crystals into his pouch, with the Ocarina of Time. Nayru's Love, Din's Fire and Farore's Wind.

He went back in his tent and stripped to his breeches. He put on his leather jerkin, and then his shirt of mail. He then put on his russet shirt, his tunic of forest green, and then his creamy russet leggings. He picked up his conical green hat, and pulled it over his brown blondish hair. His soft boots went on last. He went outside to where he had left his items, and put them in their various pouches. He strapped the Master Sword and sheath to his back, as well as his shield and bow. He then packed up his tent. After saying goodbye to the people of Kakariko village, he climbed quite easily onto Epona's saddle and put his boots gently to her ribs. She galloped away, out of the village, into the field of Hyrule.


	3. Chapter 3

_Chapter Two: A New Journey_

As the sun rose over the land of Hyrule, Link smiled at the start of a brand new journey. The fresh smell of flowers was lovely. He enjoyed travelling all across Hyrule, but his journey this time would take him to the fabled land of Syntrika. Few had gone there, and none had come back. His mission there was to find the Blade of Morning Glory, in the Temple of the Blue Crystal. _This will be interesting. _He thought. There were strange tales about the people in those lands, of their strange customs and superstitions. He thought that it would be an interesting place to live.

The hours came and went rapidly, but Link knew he was navigating toward the Gerudo Desert, which would eventually take him into Syntrika. He was still several days away from it, however. Link thought about visiting Kokiri Forest; it wouldn't be that far out of his way in a couple days. _No. The last time I went there, I nearly had to kill Mido. _Mido, the "leader" of the Kokiri. Who had shunned Link because he was a Hylian and "not one of them"? The last time, Mido had drawn a knife and attacked him with it. It was not much of a challenge to Link to disarm him and render him unconscious. It had also been a simple matter to bind him and put him somewhere he wouldn't bother Link while he was there.

As the sun set, he broke out his tent, set it up under a lush tree, and stuck an iron spike in the ground next to his pitched tent, tied Epona to it and patted her muzzle. He set down his bedroll inside of the tent and stripped to his breeches to sleep. He tried to sleep, but couldn't. He dragged his bedroll outside of the tent and lay out under the stars and observed the various constellations throughout the sky. He spotted Zelda's flower, Impa's flute and The Blue Chu-Chu. The fresh air and the comfort of Epona's presence put him at ease. He didn't want to fall asleep outside his tent, so he dragged the bedroll back into the tent and found it much easier to relax, after seeing the stars. He closed his eyes and drifted off, thinking of times in Princess Zelda's garden.


	4. Chapter 4

_Chapter Three: Contemplation_

As Link rose from a deep sleep, he went outside of his tent and stretched his arms and yawned. He started to walk to Epona to untie her and let her graze a while. As he was groggy; he did not notice the root sticking out of the ground. He tripped and fell, landing on his chin. He grunted with pain as his vision blurred momentarily. Rubbing his now-bruised chin, he walked over to Epona and untied her. He knew she wouldn't go far, so he let her go on her own. He then ate breakfast, which was very good; the fresh venison stew was warm in his stomach. When he finished, he packed up his bowl and spoon after cleaning them in the small stream nearby, then dressed in his tunic, with all of his equipment. Link then looked around for Epona. She wasn't far off. He called her, then, when she came back, saddled her. He packed up his tent which went into his saddlebags. Link swung into the saddle, and nudged her gently in the ribs.

Link was more excited than ever to be on his journey to retrieve the Blade of Morning Glory. The King of Hyrule himself had given him this mission! In any case, Link was always open to any exploration of lands he had not visited. He came up on a ridge. The same ridge that he had come to know as the roughly halfway marker to Lake Hylia from Kakariko Village. Kokiri Forest was nearby. _Wow; I didn't realize I had travelled that far already. _He thought, surprised. Link studied the sun. It was ten hours since he had made camp, judging from the position of the sun. He was positively astounded. But then, Epona was a great horse. At this rate, he would be at Syntrika within a matter of weeks. In any event, he had to ride around the ridge, as he had always done.

He kept on riding, and when he could barely keep himself awake, (It was already well past midnight) he made camp near a brook in a small forest. He was very tired. Link pitched his tent, and tied Epona up next to it, as he usually did. He undressed quickly, set his clothes in his bags, and spread out his bedroll. He grabbed his blanket and covered himself with it. This time he had no trouble sleeping. He thought of the adventure that lie ahead yet again, and of his early youth.


	5. Chapter 5

_Chapter Four: Attack_

Link woke to the sound of clopping hooves. The sound came to an abrupt halt. He sat up swiftly and saw no shadows outside the tent, or anything else to indicate anyone but Epona was out there. Except for one small thing. It was an odd scent. Like the sickly fetor of rotting flesh. He suddenly heard the faint rattling of bones. Suddenly, like the crash of an icy wall of water, it dawned upon him. _Stalfos!_ He immediately grabbed his sword and frantically drew it and picked up his shield and rushed outside. The first thing he noticed was that it was almost dawn. The second thing he noticed was there were twenty Stalfos, on their special mounts, called Khengai, all in an adjoining clearing in a sort of huddle formation. Khengai were strange skeletons in the shape of horses. The third thing he noticed was that he wore no armor at all. He actually only wore his breeches and a thin shirt. The Stalfos on their mounts were about thirty yards away. They did not seem to have spotted him yet, but they knew the smell of human flesh. It was quite potent to them, being so used to dead, rotting flesh. Link was going to try to use this delay to his advantage.

He went inside the tent and quickly put on his layers of armor. He strapped on his sword sheath, his bow and quiver. He hurried outside to check on the position of the group of Stalfos. They were still in the clearing that they had always been in, talking to each other in their guttural language, Stalf. He noticed that there was a large rock about twenty feet away from the edge of the group. Maybe he could surprise them by attacking from stealth. Link untied Epona as quickly and quietly as he could, saddled her, repacked the tent, and mounted her. He was careful to stay behind trees and the occasional small boulder along his way to the huge rock that was very close to the group of Stalfos. He didn't think they would notice him if he rode Epona right next to the group; they were very intent on whatever they were talking about.

Link dismounted Epona as he was right behind the big rock. He drew his bow and strung it as quietly as possible, as they were very close to the Stalfos. He drew five arrows and fit one to the string. He knew he wouldn't have much time before the surprise factor to turn into enragement. Drawing a deep breath, he leaped out from behind the rock and carefully aimed at the back of a Stalfos' neck and shot the arrow. Time seemed to slow as the Stalfos' neck shattered as the arrow made contact and the rest of the group howled in surprise, saw him, and then grew angry. Link made contact with the ground, rolled, knocked another arrow, and fired once more. Another Stalfos toppled to the ground, an arrow piercing his eye socket. He had to drop his bow and arrows and draw his sword before the Stalfos overtook him. He took a fighting stance. He decapitated the first Stalfos, danced to another, then another, and another, until he was like a green-and-silver blur of deadly precision. His entire being at that moment was striking and counterstriking, slashing and parrying, and the solemn truth that this was the only way to survive. He was not invincible, and did take a few injuries during the fight. They were minor, though.

As the last Stalfos fell, and the adrenaline rush slowed, Link became aware of how his arms suddenly felt like lead. He had to summon a lot of strength to be able to work them. As he brushed blood and sweat and hair out of his eyes, he suddenly had the feeling something was amiss. He counted the bodies. Nineteen Stalfos. Twenty Khengai. A bony and twisted hand with snippets of rotted flesh clinging to it suddenly entered his vision. It grabbed his face, pulling him to the ground. His body suddenly ignored the commands he sent to his limbs. Intense fear suddenly pitted his stomach. The Stalfos' touch. The ugly, once-human skull stared down at him. A Stalfos. Black, tattered clothing hanging loosely on a grimy skeleton with sparse flesh clinging to it. They carried twisted shields and swords, and wore boots, as well as piecemeal armor. The armor looked as if it belonged to several different sets. The black teeth moved, and out came the words, "The Lord will be pleased."

Link frowned as best as was possible with a skeleton hand gripping his face rather hard. He had no idea who this "Lord" was, or what this could mean. He became aware of his legs working slightly. He kicked the Stalfos in the back of the head as hard as he could, rattling the skull almost comically. That was enough to break the monster's concentration. He twisted free of its grip and grabbed the Master Sword, lunging at the monster's neck. It had a sword of its own, however, and parried his blow and slashed back at him. They exchanged blows for a few moments, then Link slipped and the Stalfos stabbed him, its blade glancing off a rib. He howled with pain. His vision went red. His head felt like it was being pounded on by the Megaton hammer. He almost fell. But if he did, it would all be over.

Link kept his balance, and swung back at the Stalfos, but it easily blocked his blow. It returned with a blow of its own, and made contact with his right shoulder. The pain became almost unbearable. The sight of his own blood pouring down his side and arm was almost worse. His vision blurred, and Link wanted nothing more than the pain to stop. The Stalfos laughed mirthlessly at his suffering. It was toying with him. Suddenly he heard, faintly, the clip-clop of hooves. The Stalfos wasn't quick enough to turn around before Epona rushed up and crushed its skull with well-placed blows with her hooves. Link had never been happier to see her in all of his eighteen years. Link sagged, spent. He tried to think of ways to heal himself, but none came to mind immediately. After a few moments of frantic thinking, link thought of his stock of potions he kept in his saddlebags. He knew he had only mere seconds before he passed out from blood loss, so he shuffled up to his trusty steed and tore open the straps of the saddlebags and dug through for a health potion. His vision was starting to darken, but he found one. He uncorked the bottle and drank the potion weakly. After a few seconds, vitality started to return to his limbs. He had survived the attack. The thought held no joy for him, however. He heaved a heavy sigh.


End file.
